Seven Ghostly Sins
by Sydella
Summary: Although the Seven Ghosts are gods, they are not perfect. Even gods are not immune to the Seven Deadly Sins.


**Lust**

Frau has been punished so many times for reading porn that he has no choice but to be a smartass about it. "The weather's cold. I need to look at pretty girls to warm myself up," he says remorselessly, as his peers and superiors scream, throw Bibles at him, try to douse him with holy water and pull their hair out.

"Boobs everywhere! I am _celebrating _the Chief of Heaven's handiwork!" he says gleefully to Jio, as the Archbishop's face slowly turns purple. "What better way to celebrate the beauty of the human body, than acknowledging the aesthetic appeal of women?"

"YOU ARE A DESPICABLE EXCUSE FOR A BISHOP!" Jio shouts, throwing yet another Bible at him (sometimes Frau wondered if certain members of the Church kept an abundance of Bibles for the sole purpose of throwing more at him). "Somebody get him out of here. I don't want to look at this childish, lecherous so-called messenger of God anymore."

If Frau is to be completely honest with himself, though, the lads' magazines no longer interest him as much as they used to. He knows all too well when and why this change has come about.

His apprentice's lovely green eyes and kind smile give him all the sustenance he needs. Zehel has always been known to be a stubborn god, and this time, no one is going to stop him from getting what he wants.

Absolutely no one. Not even Mikhail.

**Gluttony**

Labrador is the best of friends with all inhabitants of the Church gardens. They spill seeds and burst into full bloom just for him. At night, he continues tending to them tirelessly. Then, with a furtive glance around to check that Castor is preoccupied with Razette and Frau with Teito, Labrador pops an edible plant into his mouth. Then another. And another, until his belly is full and he falls asleep, the corners of his mouth curled up in bliss.

He's at perfect liberty to do whatever he wants in the gardens, but he still can't help feeling guilty.

**Greed**

Lance loves beautiful things. He is so fond of art and dance that he regularly attends exhibitions and performances when he really should be attending to his duties. Over the years, he accumulates a mountain of trinkets, souvenirs, clothes, books, pictures and even some toys…

The Church expressly forbids members of the clergy from having any material possessions. Lance, however, rationalises that he is only _bending _the rule, not outright _breaking _it. After all, it's not his fault that the Church doesn't clearly state exactly what the term 'material possessions' entails. Surely items that make him happy and therefore put him a better mood to serve God are acceptable enough to circumvent the rule?

A group of nuns regularly cleans his quarters. He stows his collection in a locked box underneath his bed to escape detection. What he doesn't expect is a nun assuming that the box contains only spare Bibles and taking it upon herself to help him organize his literary materials. When the box is opened, all the contents tumble out in an incriminating flood of materialism and deceit.

As the nuns panic and rage, all Lance can do is smile weakly and shrug, as if to say _Oops. You caught me_.

**Sloth**

When he was still known as Landkarte, Katsuragi loved to play and horse around. Pieces of paper were waiting to be turned into origami, cardboard boxes became boats about to set sail on an exciting voyage and every building he set foot in was a playground. This infuriated Ea, who reprimanded him severely and often.

"We are death gods. We have a job to do," Ea would say, his hair unkempt and eyes tired after several long days of poring over the Book of Hades.

"Aw, but work's not fun." Landkarte pouted.

"It's not meant to be fun," Ea snapped. "We can't just leave all the tasks to our elders, the other Ghosts."

But inevitably, as they both knew, every now and then Ea would give in, feeling an urge to take his mind off things, and play a game of hide and seek, or whatever else struck Landkarte's fancy. All work and no play makes for a dull reaper.

**Wrath**

Fea Kreuz Raggs was such a calm person that on the rare occasion he lost his cool, his anger was a sight to behold. Servants scuttled out of his way, animals hid in terror, the Black Beast Squadron chose their words very carefully to avoid upsetting him further and even his older brother and sister-in-law, the King and Queen, gave him wary glances and spoke to him in tones as neutral as possible. His nephew, the crown prince, was the only one who still dared to approach him when he was in such a foul mood. Kreuz would calm down somewhat and channel his energy into giving Tiashe lessons.

Once, Tiashe disappeared for a few hours. During that brief duration, Kreuz became a white-haired tempest that whirled through Raggs Castle at high speed, interrogating people and searching every nook and cranny. Eventually, Tiashe was found wandering on the outskirts of the kingdom. Kreuz broke down and hugged him tightly, the rage in the older prince's grey eyes cooling only slightly.

**Envy**

Castor hates to admit it, but he secretly envies Frau's ability to sail casually through life, though he also knows that appearances can be deceiving and Frau's just as troubled as anyone else, maybe even more so. Castor also envies Hakuren for having a human life, something that was stolen from Castor when he was the same age that Hakuren is now. Sometimes his resentment and bitterness threaten to engulf him from the place where negative emotions are squashed deep down within himself, hidden behind a friendly and polite façade.

Occasionally, on his days off, the stress gets too much for him to handle and against his better judgment, Castor allows his friends to drag him to a tavern, one of those "happening" watering holes where men and women alike wear very little clothing and leaving with even less clothing is a distinct possibility. Ironically, it is Castor who gets roaring drunk while an amused Frau alternates between looking after Teito and schmoozing with the female customers. Upon reaching a certain level of drunkenness, Castor heads to the dance floor and holds his own against those who have no holy obligations.

"Maybe we should stop him," Labrador suggests tentatively.

"Give him another hour or two, it'll wear off," Lance hastens to reassure him.

On the dance floor, Castor is gyrating furiously, unaware that the other dancers are giving him a wide berth. Lance and Labrador glance at each other and laugh nervously.

"He's not very good at dancing when he's drunk," Labrador remarks.

"No, he isn't," Lance agrees. "You have to admit, though, his utter lack of self-consciousness is enviable."

**Pride**

Karu takes pride in what he does. Whether it's his otherworldly duties as a Ghost or his day job as Chairman Miroku's assistant, he prides himself on being reliable and efficient, always having his priorities in order. So when his own flesh and blood goes off the rails and tries to escape from Miroku's house-the one place that's safe when traitorous Landkarte and Verloren are both on the prowl, damn it-Karu snaps and very nearly beats Teito to death.

Years later, Mikhail glares at him with cold, furious red eyes and denounces his harsh treatment of Teito. As always, Karu has a pat answer at the ready, but at the same time, he silently acknowledges that Mikhail has a point.

All Karu knows for sure is, he once implicitly trusted Landkarte and look where that got him. The betrayal had been and was still a huge blow to his pride. Karu cared for Teito too much to allow the same thing to happen to the Raggs prince. One Barsburg prince's suffering-namely, Karu's own-was already enough.


End file.
